Cellphones
by MonMaskedAnge
Summary: Christine loses her job, her apartment, and her cellphone. Erik’s assistant Nadir has lost Erik’s cellphone. What happens when Erik winds up with Christine’s phone, and vice versa? Read more by clicking the link above… Read and Review!
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Well, for those of you who have read my stories before, I know I know, I have never finished a work before, but that's only because I wasn't feeling it. This however, is different. I can't wait to update for you, and I hope that you will reciprocate my wishes!  Review please, even if you hate it!

Summary: Christine loses her job, her apartment, and her cellphone. Erik's assistant Nadir has lost Erik's cellphone. What happens when Erik winds up with Christine's phone, and vice versa? Read more by clicking the link above… Read and Review!

As I walked down the busy streets of New York, a man bumped into me. Me, being the most clumsy woman on Earth, tripped, and knocked him over with me. The contents of my purse were scattered everywhere, and his briefcase popped open sending gadgets and paperwork alike flying. I began to scramble to pick all of my things up, as he did the same.

"I'm real sorry, Mr.," I picked up one of the papers. His name was Nadir Khan, Personal Assistant to Erik Destler.

"I'm real sorry Mr. Khan." As he ripped the paper from my hands, giving me a nasty paper cut. I winced, as he just stared at me with an evil glare, before running to a black limo and getting in hurridly.

I just sighed, and slowly picked the rest of my things up, nonchalantly throwing them into my bag.

What a day.

That morning my boss, Mr. Changy, had actually asked me out on a date. I had quit on the spot.

Now, I had no job, an apartment I couldn't afford, and no one to turn to. Tomorrow I would just have to go job hunting.

I walked three more blocks to my crummy little dingy apartment, and collapsed on the collapsed futon bed.

It had broken more than once, but I never tried to fix it. Almost everything in the apartment had broken once, for that matter.

After watching The Notebook, or, at least the bit that I caught at the end, I struggled up from my warm spot to turn my computer on. I had to write a new resume. I hoped that the computer would make more heat in the room. Why was it so cold anyway?

I checked the thermostat. It was a sunny 53 degrees. I was shaking. I walked out into the hallway, determined to see what the problem was, when I bumped into my neighbor. Mrs. Callahan.

She must have been the meanest woman to ever walk this Earth.

"Oh, Christine, it's you." She said as she stared down her nose at me.

"Yes, it's me." I responded. "Mrs. Callahan, do you know why it's so cold in here?" I proceeded to ask, hoping that she would not blame it on me.

"Why, haven't you heard? The whole building has been bought up, by some large company. We're all to be evicted."

My face fell.

"Well, Mrs. Callahan, thank you for letting me know."

I stumbled back into my apartement, pushing my blonde hair behind my ears. No job, no apartment. Nothing.

Who would do such a thing to us? I really could not afford all of this right now. Looking at the computer, I shuddered to even think of writing a new resume, so I turned the computer off again, and walked back to the couch. I began to cry, softly at first, but soon my tears came faster and faster.

It just seemed so hopeless.


	2. Chapter 2

I woke up feeling exhausted. I rubbed the sleep from my eyes, and looked around my dingy apartment. I felt like crying again, but no good had ever come from crying all the time. No, I had to do something about this.

I got up from my couch, cursing my sleeping position. I had a huge crick in my neck. I stripped all my clothes off and turned the shower on. I had just stepped into the shower when the hot water was turned off. A blast of icy water shot down on me, and I screamed bloody murder. At least, until five seconds later when that was turned off too. I fumbled with the wet glass knobs in the shower, only to remember that I was being evicted. Soon.

"That damn company turned the water off already?" I wondered aloud. "Who want's this shithole anyway?"

And it's true. This place was just a crappy apartment complex in a run-down area. There was lots of crime, and the air always smelled of pot.

I dried myself off, already in a horrible mood. I went into the kitchen and looked into my fridge. I had a half eaten snickers bar, some moldy cheese, and a really bad piece of unidentifiable meat. I chose to eat the snickers bar.

As I sat on my couch, eating my snickers bar, and staring at the blank grey wall before me, I wondered what would become of me. This wasn't like those romance books where a guy would come in and rescue me from homelessness. I had to provide for myself now.

I thought of all the people I could go to to crash for a while, which amounted to zero. Ever since I had gotten that job with DeChangy, I had abandoned all my friends to become a work-a-holic. So much for that.

The only place I could think of that would hire me was the music store down on fifth. They had always told me I could give singing lessons there if I wanted for some extra cash, but I had always refused. I made a mental note to go down there today.

But first, I needed to get in touch with whoever was destroying my home. I tossed the candy bar wrapper into the trash, and went to the telephone. I picked it up, and telephoned my landlord. The line had already been cut. I went to my purse and looked around for my cellphone. I found instead a blackberry.

"What the hell is this?" I said. I began to look through the phone as I suddenly remembered my chance meeting with Nadir Khan yesterday. I looked through the phonebook and sure enough, there was his name.

"So this must be somebody else's phone.. Ah. Erik Destler's." I called Nadir.

_Ring… Ring…_

He picked up.

"Where the HELL are you? I will most CERTAINLY have you ARRESTED you little… thief!"

I had to restrain my laughter at that. "Sir, this is Christine Daae, and I can assure you that I am no thief."

At this, Nadir laughed. "Oh don't play innocent with me, Girl. I know that trick. Knock into a man who looks like he has money, and then pick up anything expensive he drops, and walk away as quickly as you can."

"Sir, can I just have my phone back?"

"Naturally, this thing hardly gets reception anyway. Oh, and you have two calls from your landlord about the rent."

I sneered. "Thank you… _Sir_."

"Look, just meet me at 408 Thornbury Drive, it's Erik's House. You can't miss it."

"I'll see you soon… Mr. Khan."

When I got to the house, I realized I had not been expecting this. Apparently Mr. Destler was quite rich.

I was ready to get my phone back, but not before I had given this, Mr. Destler a piece of my mind. I had spoken to my landlord not an hour ago, and she had informed me, that the company responsible for my eviction was indeed, Destler & Khan Construction.

Simply put, hell hath no fury like a woman evicted. I pulled up to the gates of the house, and a voice came on to the loudspeaker.

"Name?"

"Christine Daae."

"Purpose?"

"I have a meeting with Nadir Khan."

"Enter."

I rolled my eyes as the gates to the estate rolled open. I drove in, and parked in front of the white house. I admired the pillars in front of the house, and the lovely ivy climbing the walls. But this was no time to gawk at fine houses.

I strode purposefully up to the door, and knocked very loudly. When the door wasn't answered fast enough, I began to kick the door.

"Madamoiselle Daae I presume?" an elderly butler asked.

"You would be correct." He stepped aside to let me in, and I nearly ran inside. By now, I was positively fuming.

"Where's Nadir?"

I felt a tap on my shoulder. I turned to see an Indian looking man behind me. He smiled, but just for a second, before his ominous frown resumed.

"Where's the phone?" He asked.

But, I was determined to talk to Mr. Destler and Mr. Khan about their wrongdoings before any phones were exchanged.

"Where's Mr. Destler?"

"What ever would you need him for?"

I smiled. "Business."

"Well, I just can't allow you to speak to him. He's a very busy man, and not to be trifled with."

"Well, that's just too bad." I took a few steps closer to him. "You see, I too, am very busy, and let me tell you, even though I don't have a personal assistant, I will not be trifled with."

"Miss…"

"Stop the trifling!"

I felt a presence enter the room. I turned to see a very tall man, with dark hair and startling yellow eyes on the other side of the room. He was also wearing a white half mask on the side of his face.

"May I help you?"


	3. Chapter 3

"Yes, yes you most certainly can." Christine ignored the half mask for one of a rich man's eccentricties. And, besides, he was very handsome on the side he did show.

"I live in the apartment building? The one you are currently planning to destroy within the week? And well, I just wanted to let you know, that you are about to throw fifty or so people out onto the street. But I mean, they had a week to find a new apartment right? Let me tell you something Buddy…" 

She walked up to him so that their chests were almost touching. "I am one of those people you are kicking out. I just lost my job due to sexual harassment in the workplace, and my phone has been missing for the past 12 hours. And now, you're telling me that you're kicking me out of my home because you want to build a strip club or something there… Just to warn you, I'm one pissed off lady."

He raised his eyebrows at her. As she looked into his eyes she could see surprise, shock that anyone would talk to him this way, and something else she could not identify. Little did she know that the last thing in his eyes was the thought that he had never been this close to a woman before.

"Miss, I am very sorry to inconvenience you so, but I must let you know that I gave all the tenants a one month warning." Mr. Destler noticed Nadir standing behind Miss Daae. He was shaking his head. Erik mentally rolled his eyes. Sometimes the stupidity of his workers drove him to the edge, and beyond.

"I've however, just been informed that we gave you no notice. For this, I am extremely sorry," He noticed the way Christine's dark blonde curly hair cascaded down from her loose bun to fall on the nape of her neck. He saw the freckle on her left cheek that looked like a beauty mark, and the tiny circular birthmark just below the freckle. He also examined her eyes and found that they were a deep blue on the edges, and light blue on the inside. He could tell that without her makeup on, she would still be a beautiful woman. However, when he was studying her, he had failed to actually listen to what she had been saying.

"Well, if you aren't going to respond, then I will just leave, with your phone."

Erik looked puzzled. His brows furrowed in confusion. "My phone?"

Christine sighed. Obviously there was absolutely no connection at Destler & Kahn Construction. "Yes, you see, the other day I crashed into Nadir, and when we were picking up our things, our phones got switched."

Nadir walked forward and handed Erik Christine's phone. He handed it to Christine; purposefully making sure the phone was in the palm of his hand so that she would have to touch him to get it. When she did, it wasn't fireworks for him at all. It was something better. This was like being the firework, and exploding into the sky. He was the fuse, and Christine was the fire.

He made a mental note to strangle Nadir later for his ever present carelessness. "I am extremely sorry to have caused you so much trouble Miss. Besides giving you back your phone, is there anything I can do?" Erik had never particularly felt compassion or sympathy for anyone but himself. But this time, something inexplicable made him want to help her.

Christine put her hand on her hip, and remembered what her nanny had always told her. Christine's nanny had been Signora Lopez. Signora Lopez had always told her to take chances, and stick up for what was right. Even if it meant getting an attitude. Christine took a deep breath, looked Erik straight in the eye, and said, "Look, the only way you can help me, is by getting my apartment saved, and if you can't do that, then forget it."

She threw his phone at Nadir and walked towards the door. Nadir took a few steps back as if the wind had been knocked out of him. He sneered at her, happy to have the troublesome girl gone. She was far too much for Erik to handle, and too annoying for Nadir to deal with. However, Erik walked after her.

"Miss Daae…" Christine kept walking towards her car. She practically flew down the stairs, with Erik in pursuit, and strode to the drivers car door. She fumbled with the keys for a second, before unlocking the door.

"Please, let me help you…" Christine sat down in her seat, throwing her purse on the passenger side. She slammed the door, as if Erik were not pleading to her through her car window.

"I don't do this very often, please…" Christine took one look at Erik, and drove away, gravel flying everywhere.

"Christine!"

_A few days later…_

The guilt was eating Erik up. He felt bad for the first time in his life. Not even when he went to Iraq did he feel this bad, and Iraq had give him nightmares for years. It still did.

He had to find her. He looked around his lavish office, and for the first time, he looked at all his possessions from around the globe, and realized that they didn't matter. Right now, they only thing that mattered was that Christine wouldn't hate him.

She was different. He could tell.


End file.
